College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk and Moving

36 learnmore about this successful business.The follow- ing is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVM: Can you talkabout howthe idea for the busi- ness came to you,and howyou put it all together? Friedman: “I grewup inWashington,D.C.and I was brought up to followamore traditional career path, to get good grades,to get into a good school,to get a degree,and to climb the corporate ladder.The summer beforemy senior year in college,I was home for sum- mer vacation,andmybuddy fromhigh school,Omar Soliman,approachedmewith a beat up cargo van that he borrowed fromhismom’s small furniture store in town,and he said,‘Hey,let’s use the van to do some jobs and try tomake some extramoney.’He came up with a catchyname: CollegeHunks Hauling Junk.We thought it would be a cool way tomake the phone ring andwe put it on printed flyers,whichwe stuck in mailboxes around the neighborhood. “That was the first light-bulbmoment for me,be- cause people started calling,and I realized that they had a need for the service,but theyalso thought the namewas a catchyand quirky,tongue-in-cheek image that most people don’t associatewith junkhaulers. “Wewent back to school for our senior year in col- lege,andOmar submitted a business plan to an entre- preneurship competition at the Universityof Miami in COLLEGE H.U.N.K.S. HAULING JUNK & MOVING